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Document 52012DC0212
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products
/* COM/2012/0212 final */
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products /* COM/2012/0212 final */
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1........... Introduction.................................................................................................................... 3 2........... The scope of the Regulation............................................................................................ 4 2.1........ Mass caterers................................................................................................................. 4 2.2........ Textiles and cosmetics.................................................................................................... 5 3........... Prohibition on the use of GMOs
in organic production..................................................... 6 3.1........ General experience with the
prohibition on the use of GMOs........................................... 7 3.2........ Availability of products not
produced by GMOs.............................................................. 8 3.3........ The vendor declaration................................................................................................... 8 3.4........ Feasibility of specific tolerance
thresholds (for the adventitious or technically unavoidable presence of GMOs)
and their impact on the organic sector.................................................................................... 9 4........... Functioning of the internal
market and control system....................................................... 9 5........... Application of the import regime.................................................................................... 10 5.1........ Imports under the equivalence
regime............................................................................ 10 5.1.1..... Recognition of third countries as
providing equivalent guarantees.................................... 11 5.1.2..... Recognition of control bodies and
control authorities as providing equivalent guarantees. 11 5.2........ Imports under the compliance
regime............................................................................ 12 5.3........ Certificate of inspection................................................................................................. 13 6........... Conclusions.................................................................................................................. 13 ANNEX..................................................................................................................................... 15 REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the application
of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of
organic products 1. Introduction Organic agriculture occupies 8.6 million
hectares in the EU in 2009, which represents 4.7 % of EU-27 utilised
agricultural area. In the period 2006-2009, its average annual rate of growth
was 7.7 % in the EU-15 and 13 % in the EU-12 (EU-15 represented
81 % of all EU organic area in 2009). There were about 197.000 holdings
involved in organic agriculture in 2008, i.e. 1.4 % of all EU-27 holdings.
It is estimated that the organic sector represented 2 % of total food
expenses in the EU-15 in 2007.[1] Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007[2] and its implementing
Regulations, Commission Regulations (EC) No 889/2008[3] and (EC) No 1235/2008[4] constitute the legal framework
on organic food and farming at EU level. Already when conceiving Regulation (EC) No
834/2007 - hereafter named "the Regulation" -, the Council pointed at
the dynamic evolution of the organic sector and asked for a future review of a
number of issues for which it was considered that experience gained from the
application of the new rules should be taken into account. The Regulation
specified in its Article 41 which particular issues must be reviewed: (a)
the scope of the Regulation itself, in
particular as regards organic food prepared by mass caterers; (b)
the prohibition on the use of GMOs, including
the availability of products not produced by GMOs, the vendor declaration, the
feasibility of specific tolerance thresholds and their impact on the organic
sector; (c)
the functioning of the internal market and
controls system, assessing in particular that the established practices do not
lead to unfair competition or barriers to the production and marketing of
organic products. With this report the Commission takes stock
of the experience gained by the application of the Regulation from 1st January
2009, when it started to apply. This report will focus on the three main
subjects set out above. In addition, it will highlight some other important
issues under discussion with the Member States and stakeholders. In order to get a better view on the
experience gained so far with the Regulation, the Commission sent a
questionnaire to all the Member States and to stakeholders, by distributing it
to all the Members of the Advisory Group for Organic Farming. Twenty-six Member
States replied to the questionnaire in March 2011, as well as eleven
stakeholders. Those replies provided an essential input to this report. 2. The
scope of the Regulation The Regulation created the basis for
adopting detailed production rules on sectors which were not yet subject to
harmonised rules[5].
So far implementing rules have been finalised and published on organic
aquaculture, including seaweed, and on organic yeast. Work on the rules on
organic wine making and on feed were ongoing when this report was drafted. For
some other sectors, like poultry and greenhouses, the existing production rules
have not been revised yet. This chapter concentrates on a review of
the experience with mass caterers and the question of the possible inclusion of
textiles and cosmetics. Organic certification of certain products outside Annex
I of the Treaty but which are closely linked to Annex I products or to rural
economy, such as beeswax, essential oils, or maté is not examined in detail here,
but the Commission recognises a need for clarifying whether such products may
be certified in compliance with the Regulation where those products have been
produced in accordance with the requirements laid down in the Regulation. 2.1. Mass
caterers The preparation of organic products in
restaurants, hospitals, canteens and other food business is steadily gaining
importance, in both private and public sectors. The catering sector comprises
very different types of enterprises, from small restaurants to large catering
chains. At the time of conceiving the Regulation,
including the catering sector was judged to be premature and the protection of
terms referring to organic production considered sufficient. Anyhow, the mass
catering sector is already subject to EU rules on hygiene and food labelling,
which provide that labels referring to production methods cannot be used in a
way that could mislead the purchaser[6]. Currently, seven Member States have
introduced national rules, while private standards are applied in ten other
Member States. These rules provide certification of ingredients, dishes, menus
or complete catering operations. Member States with an established control
system did not report particular difficulties. Several Member States reported
that projects to regulate mass catering are envisaged at national or regional
level. Most Member States are of the opinion that
mass catering operations should not become subject to EU Regulation on organic
production in the short term, not only because of possible increased
complexity, but also because of the limited impact on trade due to their local
character. The Commission concludes that there is currently no need to include
mass catering operations in the Regulation but will closely follow developments
in this sector. 2.2. Textiles
and cosmetics During the last years, there has been
significant market growth for textiles and cosmetics bearing reference to
organic production. Private certification schemes for these products have been
developed. However those two product categories are not included in the EU
organic legal framework, which is limited to a series of agricultural products[7] (in particular, non processed
agricultural products or processed agricultural products for use as food).
While it is widely recognised that textiles and cosmetics both constitute a
valuable outlet for organically produced raw materials, a debate has generated
in the organic production sector on the question of whether the reference to
organic production for agricultural products outside the scope of the current
Regulation could pose a risk for the credibility of the term
"organic", as applied to foodstuffs. Additionally, it should be
recalled that in order to systematically include non-agricultural products, the
Regulation would have to be fundamentally changed. The Union legislation on textiles
deals with fibre names and labelling rather than production methods[8]. It has recently been revised[9] with a view to simplify and
improve the legislative framework in that sector. Within the voluntary EU
Ecolabel scheme[10]
criteria have been established for textile products[11]. In the case of cotton, if
95 % of the product is made of organic cotton, the denomination
"organic cotton" is allowed under this scheme. Agricultural raw materials, such as plant
oils and plant extracts, are present in many cosmetics. The Union
legislation on cosmetics regulates the use of claims on cosmetic products[12]. Common criteria for all types
of claims used with respect to cosmetic products, including ‘natural and
organic’ claims, are being developed[13]. The Commission
considers that it may be worth exploring the opportunities offered by the Union
legislation to extend the protection of the use of the word "organic"
to textiles and cosmetics. 3. Prohibition
on the use of GMOs in organic production One of the overall principles of organic
production set out in the Regulation is the prohibition of the use of: –
genetically modified organisms or GMOs[14], –
products produced from GMOs[15], or –
products produced by GMOs[16]. These products are considered incompatible
with the concept of organic production and consumers' perception of organic
products. In practice it means that GMOs and products
produced from or by GMOs shall not be used as food, feed, processing aids,
plant protection products, fertilisers, soil conditioners, seeds, vegetative
propagating material, micro-organisms and animals in organic production. One
exception only is made for veterinary medicinal products (vaccines and others). However, as organic systems are not
isolated from the general production chain, low and accidental presence of GM
crops in non-GM farming systems such as organic farming cannot be completely
excluded during cultivation, harvest, transport, storage and processing.
Sources of possible GMO admixture are seed impurities, cross-pollination,
volunteers and harvesting and storage practices. Another potential source are
food and feed additives, which are commonly produced from or by GMOs. The former Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91[17] contained the same
prohibitions on GMOs but did not address the issue of unintended presence of
traces of GMOs. In the absence of specific rules, the horizontal rules of the
EU Regulation on Genetically Modified Food and Feed[18] thus applied equally to
products used in organic farming. That Regulation lays down a general labelling
threshold of 0.9% for the adventitious or technically unavoidable presence of
GMOs or products from GMOs[19]. In this sense, the Regulation clarifies
that the general rules on unavoidable presence of GMOs apply. Moreover it
introduces specific provisions in its Article 9 (3) on the responsibility of
the organic operator for avoiding the presence of GMOs in organic products. The
leading principles are to have the lowest possible adventitious presence of
GMOs in organic products, as set out in recital 10, and at the same time to
avoid undue constraints and additional burden on organic operators. 3.1. General
experience with the prohibition on the use of GMOs From the above mentioned questionnaire it
appears that supervising the control system on the prohibition of the use of
GMOs did not pose major problems to the Member States. However, feed is singled
out as a risk product for adventitious presence of GMOs. Some very low findings
of authorised GMOs below 0.1% were reported in soya and maize. Operators make
considerable efforts and take common initiatives to keep organic products free
from adventitious GMO presence. They bear the costs for these preventive
actions. In some Member States specific risk
analysis and risk management tools have been developed, which offer a
systematic approach for deciding on additional sampling and control visits. The
Commission will monitor the development of these tools and propose them for EU
wide application if appropriate. Regarding coexistence, the Commission's
report to the Council and the European Parliament of 2009 on the coexistence of
genetically modified crops with conventional and organic farming[20] concluded that GM crops have
not caused any demonstrable damage to existing non-GM farming. Further, on 13
July 2010 the Commission issued a Commission
Recommendation[21]
on guidelines for the development of national co-existence measures to avoid
the unintended presence of GMOs in conventional and organic crops, which
recognises that the potential loss of income for producers of particular
agricultural products such as organic products may occur as a result of the
presence of GMO traces at levels even lower than the GM labelling threshold set
out in EU legislation at 0.9 %. Moreover, the Recommendation acknowledges
that the admixture of GMOs has specific implications for producers of
particular products such as organic farmers, impacting also the final consumer, since such production
is often more costly, as it requires stricter segregation efforts to avoid GMO
presence to guarantee the associated price premium. In this
same context, the Commission has submitted a Regulation proposal to the
European Parliament and to the Council which, once adopted, would allow Member
States to restrict or prohibit cultivation of GMOs on their territory[22]. Recently, the European Court of Justice in joint cases C-58/10 to C-68 Monsanto provided
an interpretation of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 on genetically modified food
and feed indicating that for a Member State to adopt safeguard measures, only
Art. 34 of that Regulation is applicable to existing products previously
authorised under Directive 2001/18/EC. Also, the European Court of Justice
(Case 442-09) provided an interpretation of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 as
regards GM pollen in honey. The Commission, together with the Member States, is
evaluating the ruling and its impacts, including on co-existence. 3.2. Availability
of products not produced by GMOs Vitamins, enzymes and amino-acids used in
food processing are nowadays very often produced by genetically modified
micro-organisms and can therefore not be used in organic production. The Regulation has foreseen within the
exceptional production rules the possibility for the Commission to provide
exceptions to the prohibition of using products produced by GMOs when it would
be necessary to use food and feed additives and other substances that would not
be available on the market other than produced by GMOs. The Commission has not
granted such exceptions so far. However, some substances such as vitamins
B2 (riboflavin) and B 12 (cobalamine) and the enzymes chymosin (for cheese
making) and phytase (for feed) are regularly reported as available only
produced by GMOs. Therefore the Commission will closely monitor this situation
and propose appropriate action if necessary. 3.3. The
vendor declaration When organic operators buy inputs needed
for their production processes, they need to make sure that these inputs are
not GMOs or products produced from or by GMOs. The Regulation stipulates in its
article 9 (2) that operators can rely
on the labels accompanying products or any other accompanying document, affixed
or provided pursuant to Directive 2001/18/EC[23],
Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003[24]
or Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003[25]
unless they have obtained information indicating that the labelling of the
product in question is not in conformity with those Regulations for instance
when the labelling threshold of 0,9% of adventitious presence of GMOs is
exceeded. Products produced by GMOs and
products produced from GMOs which are not food or feed are not covered by the
GMOs legislation and therefore no labelling and traceability obligations are
imposed on them. Therefore the Regulation provided in its article 9 (3) that
the organic operator has to request in such cases a confirmation or vendor
declaration[26]
to be signed by the supplier of the products. In this document, the vendor must
declare that his product has not been produced from or by GMOs. The vendor declaration represents a commitment
of the supplier with legal value. However, stakeholders signal that many
companies do not fully understand its function, may refuse using it, or, on the
contrary, sign it very easily. Some Member States also indicate that they have
difficulties to verify whether a given declaration is reliable because of
technical and analytical constraints. The Commission therefore considers that the
reliability and effectiveness of the vendor declaration raises some concern and
needs to be further examined. 3.4. Feasibility
of specific tolerance thresholds (for the adventitious or technically
unavoidable presence of GMOs) and their impact on the organic sector In their answers to the above mentioned
questionnaire, almost all Member States and most stakeholders judge the current
legislative framework as providing sufficient guarantees regarding the
prohibition of GMOs in the organic production system. It ensures that products
marketed without references to GMOs on the label only contain adventitious and
unavoidable levels below 0.9 %. A few Member States, making reference to
the level of detection, do prefer a specific threshold for products used in
organic production, going from a 0.1 % quantification limit[27] up to 0.3 %. In about five Member States, there are
private certification schemes certifying adventitious or technically
unavoidable presence of GMOs in organic products below the general level of
0.9 %. The controls are reported to focus on soya, maize, rapeseed, rice
and flax. It can be retained that there is a majority
of opinions in favour of keeping the same threshold of 0.9% for the
adventitious presence of GMOs in organic products. A specific threshold would
increase complexity and costs to be borne by producers and consumers. 4. Functioning
of the internal market and control system A new element of the Regulation that could
influence the functioning of the internal market, is the obligatory use of the
EU logo on all organic products[28]
produced in the EU applicable from 1st July 2010, with a transition
period ending by 30 June 2012. Although it is fair to say that its introduction
was quite successful, with an increasing visibility on a wide range of
products, it is however impossible to assess its impact at this stage. The Member States indicate that the control
system as applied in 2009 and 2010 does not cause significant problems to the
smooth functioning of the internal market for organic products. However,
several Member States and stakeholders pointed out that varied reading and
interpreting of the EU legislation reveal a need for harmonisation, and
sometimes simplification, of the actual implementation of the organic rules
throughout the Union. In 2010, there were 199 Control Authorities and Control
Bodies in the EU in charge of the organic farming control system. In order to improve transparency the Commission has adopted Regulation (EU) No 426/2011[29]
which obliges the Member States to draw up a publicly available updated list of
operators, as from 1 January
2013. As regards cases of infringements and irregularities, the Commission
considers that, although Member States generally take adequate measures, there
is room for improvement on the exchange of information in such cases, in
particular as regards timeliness and completeness of the notifications. Group certification for small organic
producers in tight cooperation inside the Union raised some interest from
Member States and stakeholders, as it facilitates the placing of their products on the market. But all respondents underlined the
need to guarantee its capacity to safeguard or improve
the reliability and the efficiency of the controls. The Commission recognises that the control system can be further improved, and will continue
its work in this direction with the Member States. Given that the Court of Auditors
has performed a recent audit in respect of organic production and labelling of organic products, of which a
report is expected to be published early 2012, the Commission will also base
itself on the findings of this audit to guide its work on the matter.
Commission services and Member States are in the process of developing a common
understanding of all elements of the control system, in particular on the
linkage between the specific legislation on organic production and the general
legislation on official food and feed controls Regulation (EC) No 882/2004[30], and a more active supervision
of competent authorities both in Member States and in recognised third
countries including audits carried out by the Food and Veterinary Office. The
Commission will not hesitate to launch infringement procedures when control
systems are not complying with the EU legislation. 5. Application
of the import regime Together with the USA, the EU is the
world's leading organic market attracting exports from many third countries,
representing together around 95 % of the world's organic sales. The
Regulation includes provisions and harmonised procedures for importing organic
products on the EU market through two possibilities: either in compliance with
the EU organic legislation, or based on equivalence between standards and
control systems. Outside this import regime, other imports
of equivalent organic products into the EU are based on import authorisations[31], which are granted by the
Member States authorities consignment by consignment for a limited period of
time. This possibility is transitional and to be phased out progressively[32]. 5.1. Imports
under the equivalence regime Equivalent, in describing different systems
or measures, means that they are capable of meeting the same objectives and
principles by applying rules which ensure the same level of assurance of
conformity[33].
Equivalence agreements can encourage the development of standards and controls
adapted to local conditions. They are encouraged by the World Trade Organisation. The specific Codex Alimentarius guidelines[34] on organic food constitute the
international point of reference intended to facilitate the harmonization of
requirements for organic products worldwide. 5.1.1. Recognition
of third countries as providing equivalent guarantees The list of recognized third countries
comprised eleven countries at the moment of drafting this report. Another
seventeen requests are pending. The recognition process is initiated by an
official application lodged by the national authorities to the Commission. It
includes the detailed assessment of the third country's organic standard and
control system to determine whether they are equivalent to the ones of the EU.
This assessment requires significant resources. Minor differences may be
accepted, but too divergent rules may impose restrictions on the imports.
Control measures must be proved to be as effective as inside the EU. The
Commission also carries out on-the-spot examinations and reviews the list of
recognised third countries regularly. The Commission considers that once the
initial assessment has been successfully finalised, this list of third
countries offers the most stable and reliable approach to organic imports, and
also contributes to stimulate developing countries to engage in setting up
their own rules and control system. It is the Commission's intention to
continue examining the existing requests and possible new ones with a view to
promote the equivalence concept at world level. However, the time needed for the assessments
performed so far shows that this task is complex and requires highly technical
expertise. While the Commission can call on co-reporting Member States to help
perform assessments and on-the-spot visits, it is however clearly not
sufficient to meet the resources needed to cover the whole process and for the
subsequent monitoring of the list. The Commission will study further
streamlining of the procedures used and may propose ways of simplification and
reinforcement of the supervision. In the meantime, the Commission is
intensifying its efforts to treat the pending requests. It must be noted that
imports from the third countries in question, are not affected because they now
take place via import authorisations granted by the Member States (see above)
and in future they will be possible via the recognition of control bodies and
control authorities in third countries, as described below. 5.1.2. Recognition
of control bodies and control authorities as providing equivalent guarantees Regarding imports of organic products from
third countries that are not recognised, the Commission started to implement
the recognition of equivalence for control bodies with the opening of
applications from 2008. By the first deadline of 31 October 2009 the Commission
received 73 applications from control bodies and control authorities all over
the world. The Commission assessed the technical dossiers prepared by the
applicants; in most cases it needed to request additional information from the
applicants, which made the process longer. The first list of recognised control
bodies adopted by the Commission[35]
will be regularly updated. It will be applicable from 1st July 2012. The Commission considers that the list of
control authorities and control bodies could also offer a reliable approach to
imports, provided adequate supervision is ensured to guarantee the correct
functioning of the regime. In particular, whereas Member States competent
authorities are responsible for the controls on all imported organic products
from their release for free circulation in the EU territory, it will become
essential that the Commission reacts in a timely manner to possible
deficiencies in the functioning of a listed control body and withdraws it from
the list if the requirements are no longer met. This regime being new and not yet
operational no conclusion can be drawn at this stage. However, from the
experience gained with the functioning of the Regulation, it is clear that
implementing this part of the import regime and ensuring appropriate supervision
will create a substantial additional workload for the Commission. As regards the supervision of the import
regime in general, the feasibility of applying precautionary measures by the
Commission to allow known or emerging risks to be countered more effectively
should be explored, taking account of measures foreseen in the Regulation
itself, and in other parts of European law applicable to controls[36]. 5.2. Imports
under the compliance regime Under the compliance regime a non-EU operator has to fulfil all the requirements of EU
legislation, including all detailed production rules and labelling. In contrast
to the equivalence regime, the rules followed must be identical, and not merely
equivalent, to the ones applicable in the EU. The operator must be subject to controls by a control body or a control authority
recognised for the purpose of compliance by the Commission. The compliance regime has not been activated yet. The Commission fixed the deadline for
the receipt of first applications from control authorities and control bodies
at 31 October 2014, thus giving time to the equivalence regime to develop. Based on the experience gained so far, it
is doubtful that the compliance
regime will provide for better access to the EU market
and will bring additional benefit to the EU's trading partners compared to what
is already provided by the equivalence regime. It will
neither bring significant benefit for the consumers regarding the corresponding
imported organic products, which cannot be distinguished on the market.
Moreover, the system creates an additional administrative workload comparable
to the equivalence system without any additional benefit. The Commission
therefore prefers concentrating its efforts on equivalence rather than on
compliance, whose usefulness and efficiency need to be reconsidered together
with trading partners, in the light of current and future organic trade
activities. 5.3. Certificate
of inspection The release for free circulation in the EU
of a consignment of organic products under the equivalence regime is
conditional on the submission of an original certificate of inspection
delivered by a control body or a control authority supervised either by a
recognised third country or the Commission or a Member State's competent
authority (under the regime of import authorisations). At importation into the
EU, the consignment is checked against the information contained in the
certificate of inspection, in particular markings and batch numbers identifying
the organic products, and the certificate is endorsed by Customs. The
certificate of inspection thus constitutes a key element in the traceability of
each batch of organic products from the third country producer to the EU
importer, traceability that can be used to track the onwards distribution of
the product in the EU in case the withdrawal from the market becomes necessary. Operators consider the obligation to submit
an original certificate of inspection as burdensome due to the potential delays
caused by the time needed for forwarding the original certificate and call for
the possibility of submitting electronic certificates of inspection. Some
Member States who clear a large percentage of all EU imports have signalled
their interest in investigating the feasibility of electronic certificates made
available through a secured database for control, clearance and supervision
purposes to Member State authorities and the Commission. The Commission intends
to examine the feasibility of introducing such a system, which would offer
faster clearance to operators and provide key data on import transactions to
the Commission for its supervision of control bodies in third countries.
Importantly, such a system would also facilitate quick response by Member
States in cases of infringement by blocking non compliant products. 6. Conclusions This report has reviewed the limited
experience gained with the application of the Regulation since 2009, from which
the Commission draws the following conclusions: (a)
There is currently no objective need to extend
the scope of the Regulation to mass caterers. The organic labelling of textiles
and cosmetics could possibly be given an adequate protection of consumers and
producers interest through other instruments. It is preferable to deepen the
regulatory and control aspects for agricultural products rather than to expand
the scope to more products and sectors. (b)
While the prohibition on the use of GMOs in
organic production is correctly implemented, the vendor declaration needs to be
further re-examined and the availability of some products in non-GM version to
be followed up. Preventive measures and harmonised actions are preferred to a
specific GMO threshold for organic products, which does not seem to be
justified under current circumstances. On co-existence,
further guidance to Member States has been provided on 13 July 2010, when the
Commission issued a Commission Recommendation on guidelines for the development
of national co-existence measures to avoid the unintended presence of GMOs in
conventional and organic crops. However, recent
developments need to be analysed. (c)
The control system in most cases suited the
functioning of the internal market; however it still shows some weaknesses in
its application. Further work needs to be undertaken in order to make it more
performing. Moreover, while progress has been made in
the implementation of the new import regime based on equivalence, some
streamlining is desirable and the usefulness of activating the compliance
regime is put into question. The Commission believes that it is too
early to add proposals to change the Regulation to this Report, especially at
the time when the corresponding proposal for its alignment to the Lisbon Treaty[37] is still discussed in the
Parliament and the Council. With this report, the Commission aims at providing
factual elements which can guide a constructive debate on the organic farming
Regulation. Following up on this debate, the Commission may come forward with
legal proposals at a later stage. For making such debate most constructive,
and with a view to facilitate citizens' involvement, the Commission considers
that topics like the simplification of the legislative framework -while at the
same time ensuring that the standards are not watered down-, coexistence of
genetically modified crops in particular with organic farming, the improvement
of the control system and of the equivalence regime in trade of organic
products are key issues for future reflections about organic agriculture. The Commission invites the European
Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report and
welcomes feedback from other stakeholders. ANNEX Suggestion of issues to address in the
framework of the discussion on the Report from the Commission to the European
Parliament and the Council on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No
834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products 1. Could the legislative
framework be simplified and how, at the same time ensuring that the standards
are not watered down? 2. What measures should be
taken in order to ensure that co-existence is respected and that the standards
of organic production can be fulfilled by any farmer who opts for this sector? 3. Is there a need to revise
current production standards and go for stricter rules, for instance in relation
to the availability of organic young animals, feed and seed and other elements?
If yes, what to propose to farmers or regions not able to fulfil such new
conditions? Would regionalised flexibility be compatible with fair competition
conditions? Would controls be feasible? 4. Controls are based on
physical inspections of each operator along the food chain at least once a
year. Operators must be attested by independent certifiers. How could the
control system be improved? 5. In line with the European
Action Plan[38],
the Commission has promoted equivalence in trade of organic products,
recognising either third countries or control bodies. Should equivalence be the
unique concept for trading organic products? In recent years the Commission has
also achieved reciprocal recognition from third countries recognised equivalent
by the EU. Should this approach be enhanced with a view to better defend
offensive interest of the EU? [1] More
data and factual information concerning organic agriculture is provided in the
publication by the Commission in 2010: "An analysis of the EU organic
sector" available at: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/files/eu-policy/data-statistics/facts_en.pdf [2] Council
Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and
labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91, OJ
L 189, 20.7.2007, p. 1 [3] Commission
Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008 laying down detailed
rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on
organic production and labelling of organic products with regards to organic
production, labelling and control, OJ L 250 of 18.9.2008, p.1 [4] Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 of 8 December 2008 laying down detailed
rules for implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 as regards
the arrangements for imports of organic products from third countries, OJ L
334, 12.12.2008, p. 25 [5] Such
as organic wine, organic aquaculture, including seaweed, organic yeast [6] Directive
2000/13/EC [7] Listed
in Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC) N° 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on
organic production and labelling of organic products (O.J. L 189, 20.07.2007,
p.1) [8] Directive
2008/121/EC [9] Regulation
(EU) No 1007/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September
2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre
composition of textile products. [10] Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 25 November 2009 on the EU Ecolabel [11] Commission
Decision of 9 July 2009 (2009/567/EC) [12] Article
20 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, OJ L 342 of 22.12.2009 [13] ISO/NP
16128 [14] The
definition of ‘Genetically modified organism (GMO)’ is given in Directive
2001/18/EC. Examples: plants and
seeds from genetically modified soya and maize. [15] ‘Produced
from GMOs’ means derived in whole or in part from GMOs but not
containing or consisting of GMOs (Article 2.u). Examples:
oil, starch or proteins from genetically modified soya or maize, not containing
any genetically modified DNA. [16] ‘Produced
by GMOs’ means derived by using a GMO as the last living organism in the
production process, but not containing or consisting of GMOs nor produced from
GMOs (Article 2.v). Examples: food and
feed additives (mainly vitamins and amino-acids) and processing aids (mainly
enzymes) produced by genetically modified micro-organisms (such as bacteria and
fungi). [17] Council
Regulation (EC) N° 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of
agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural
products and foodstuffs [18] Regulation
(EC) n° 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September
2003 on genetically modified food and feed OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1–23, ,
article 12 (2) [19] For
seed no threshold is defined. [20] COM
(2009) 153 final of 2.4.2009 Report from the Commission to the Council and the
European Parliament on the coexistence of genetically modified crops with
conventional and organic farming http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/gmo/coexistence/index_en.htm [21] Commission
Recommendation 2010/C/200/01, OJUE C 200 of 22 July 2010, page 1. http://ecob.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/CoexRecommendation.pdf [22] COM (2010) 375 final of 13.7.2010 Proposal for a
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive
2001/18/EC as regards the possibility for the Member States to restrict or
prohibit the cultivation of GMOs in their territory. [23] Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of
genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC -
Commission Declaration OJ L 106, 17.4.2001, p. 1–39 [24] Regulation
(EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September
2003 on genetically modified food and feed ; OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1–23 [25] Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 22 September 2003 concerning the traceability and
labelling of genetically modified organisms and the traceability of food and
feed products produced from genetically modified organisms and amending
Directive 2001/18/EC OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 24–28 [26] The
model of the declaration is referred to in article 69 of Regulation (EC) No
889/2008 and included in Annex XIII thereof. [27] Currently
0.1% is the lowest level at which the presence of GMO can reliably be
quantified [28] Introduced
by Commission Regulation (EU) n° 271/2010, OJ L 84 of 31.03.2010 [29] OJ
L 113 of 3.5.2011, p. 1 [30] Regulation
(EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004
on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with
feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules, OJ L 191, 30.4.2004,
p. 1–141 [31] Member
States granted 2440 authorisations in 2009 and 3754 in 2010. [32] Article
19 of Commission Regulation (EC) n° 1235/2008. [33] Regulation
(EC) No 834/2007, article 2(x) [34] Codex
CAC/GL 32 - 1999 Guidelines for the production, processing, labelling and
marketing of organically produced foods. [35] Commission
implementing Regulation (EU) n° 1267/2011 of 6 December 2011, OJ L 324,
7.12.2011, p. 9 [36] Regulation
(EC) No 882/2004 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 669/2009 of 24 July 2009
implementing Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the
Council as regards the increased level of official controls on imports of
certain feed and food of non-animal origin and amending Decision 2006/504/EC, OJ
L 194, 25.7.2009, p. 11–21 [37] COM(2010)
759 final of 17.12.2010 [38] COM (2004) 415 final of 10.06.2004, COMMUNICATION FROM
THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT European Action Plan
for Organic Food and Farming